Microsoft and Nokia can’t be too pleased about the news from Europe, where big telecoms say that the combination of Nokia hardware and Windows Phone software has been a bust. Given that the phones have been on sale since December, that could spell bad news for the Nokia-Microsoft Windows Phone push into the U.S.

Reuters reports that European telecoms say that Nokia phones running Windows Phone have been a bust. An executive from one European operator, which has been selling the Windows Phone-powered Lumia 800 and 710 from Nokia since December said, “No one comes into the store and asks for a Windows phone.”

He added:

“If the Lumia with the same hardware came with Android in it and not Windows, it would be much easier to sell.”

Executives cited a number of problems with the Nokia-Windows Phone combination. People are far more familiar with Android and the iPhone than with Windows Phone, and they look to buy what they are familiar with. In addition, salespeople are far more familiar with Android and the iPhone as well, and that’s what they push.

The article noted that at a France Telecom store in Paris:

Lumia models were not prominently displayed and a sales clerk was quick to offer one shopper an iPhone first. She then presented a range of Android smartphones made by Samsung and HTC.

Operators say that if Nokia would cut the prices on phones, and if Microsoft and Nokia would spend considerable marketing dollars, they might be able to sell more Lumia phones. But so far, the price cuts and marketing haven’t arrived the way the operators want.

A spokesperson for one operator told Reuters:

“If they could lower the price we think they could sell more. It might be worth making it a bit of a loss leader to get it out of the door. It’s not rocket science.”

And perhaps worse of all for Microsoft and Nokia was this judgment from a device chief at a European operator:

“Ultimately, Nokia and Windows are challengers and they either need to come to market with a really disruptive, innovative product or a huge marketing budget to create client demand. So far they have done neither.”

None of that bodes well for Nokia and Microsoft in the U.S. The problems cited by European operators are not new, and Nokia and Microsoft are well aware of them. Windows Phone market share is so small in the U.S. that that the well-known research firm Nielsen didn’t even bother to break out its usage in a recent report.

But the news coming out of Europe has to be disturbing for Microsoft and Nokia. Lack of consumer demand and low visibility in retail outlets have long been problems in the U.S. for Windows Phone. The fact that they haven’t been solved in Europe, where Nokia is a larger player, and where Windows Phone devices from Nokia have been available longer, could be a sign of things to come on this side of the Atlantic as well.